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'''Willie Everette Parker''' (born [[November 11]], [[1980]] in [[Clinton, North Carolina]]) is an American [[American football|football]] [[running back]] for the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]]. His excellent speed has gained him the [[nickname]], "Fast Willie." |
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==High school years== |
==High school years== |
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Revision as of 04:38, 9 May 2007
{{NFL.com player}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata. Willie Everette Parker (born November 11, 1980 in Clinton, North Carolina) is an American football running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His excellent speed has gained him the nickname, "Fast Willie."
High school years
Willie Parker attended Clinton High School in Clinton, North Carolina and was a letterman in football. He was a two-time All-Conference and a two-time All-Region honoree. As a junior, he rushed for 1,329 yards and 20 touchdowns and helped lead his team to the state 2A title. As a senior, he rushed for 1,801 yards and 18 touchdowns (while averaging 12.3 yards per carry) and was also named the County Player of the Year.
College career
He attended the University of North Carolina, where he only played sparingly (181 yards on 48 carries in his senior year). He was never given the opportunity to demonstrate his talent in college and as a result uses the name of his high school to be introduced in NFL games. He did not get to play the senior game.
NFL career
2004
Parker was signed as an undrafted free agent with the Steelers in 2004, largely as a favor from the Rooney family. While at UNC, Parker displayed great speed but little vision, resulting in inconsistent play which led to him being benched in favor of Ronnie McGill during his senior year. Parker was timed several times in the 40 yard dash coming from college. The fastest time was an outstanding 4.23.
He spent the 2004 NFL season as a backup player behind Jerome Bettis, Duce Staley and Verron Haynes. During the 2004 season he had his most impressive game on week 17 in Buffalo. Duce Staley started the game and played most of the first quarter; Parker took the rest of the game. He ran for 102 yards in the remaining 3 quarters, including a very long sprint that set up a game controlling drive. The Steelers, playing mostly reserves (third-stringer Brian St. Pierre played part of the game at QB) had already sealed the top seed in the AFC that year, but for the Bills, a win could have meant the playoffs. It has been considered that it was this game that got head coach Bill Cowher's attention. He would put Parker in for much of the 2005 preseason games.
2005
In his second year, Parker earned the starting job after both Bettis (hamstring) and Staley (knees) missed the first part of the season with injuries. By default, Parker had to play the first game against the Tennessee Titans. He impressed Bill Cowher (as well as Titans coach Jeff Fisher) by gaining 161 rushing yards on 22 attempts (7.3 average). With a 45 yard streak, and a 48 yard screen play, he was getting major attention from everyone on the field. After following up this performance with another 100+ yard game against the Houston Texans, Cowher said "He's here to stay." "Fast Willie" started 15 of 16 games that season (he was injured in week 9 against the Green Bay Packers and missed the week 10 contest against the Cleveland Browns), finishing with 255 carries for 1,202 yards (4.7 average, a career long 80 yard TD run in week 16 against the Browns) and 4 touchdowns. He also finished the season with 218 yards receiving and one touchdown. Willie Parker was the first Steeler back since Bettis in 2001 to top 1,000 yards in a season. At Parker's Pro-Day has was timed in the range of a 4.2.
Super Bowl XL
On the second play of the third quarter of Super Bowl XL, "Fast" Willie Parker scored a 75-yard touchdown, the longest rushing play in Super Bowl history, to give the Steelers a 14-7 lead over the Seattle Seahawks. The previous long was 74 yards by Marcus Allen in Super Bowl XVIII against the Washington Redskins.
Alan Faneca, the All-Pro guard who pulled and made the block that sprung Parker for the TD, got an MVP vote as a result of the play. Parker finished the game with 93 yards on 10 carries and an average of 9.3 yards a carry, the third-best average in Super Bowl history (minimum 10 carries).
2006
In 2006, Parker signed a major contract with the Steelers, a four-year $13.6 million dollar deal that would solidify his future role on the team. Bill Cowher was quoted as saying that Parker would be a workhorse and receive the goal-line carries in his role as the starter, making him the bona fide #1 running-back in Pittsburgh. On November 12th, 2006, in a home game against the New Orleans Saints, Willie rushed for 213 yards on 22 carries, 5 yards short of the greatest single-game rushing total in Steeler history. His two long gains of 72 and 76 yards set up Willie touchdowns that capped off the Pittsburgh victory, 38-31. His 76-yard sprint late in the 4th quarter was the longest rush in Heinz Field history.
On December 7, Willie Parker broke the All Time Steelers rushing record for a single game gaining 223 yards on 32 carries. The record was previously held by Frenchy Fuqua. Parker also became the only Steelers running back to have two 200+ yard games in the same year.
'Fast Willie' played in (and started) all 16 regular season games. He compiled 1,494 yards on 337 carries (4.4 average) with 13 rushing touchdowns. He also had 12 runs of 20 or more yards. Parker also caught 31 passes for 222 yards (7.2 average) and 3 touchdowns. In addition, his 16 combined scores broke the previous Steelers single-season touchdown mark of 15 set by Louis Lipps in 1987.
Parker served as a backup to LaDainian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson in his first Pro Bowl, where he would finish the game with 19 yards on 8 carries.